With the ongoing worldwide pandemic and the addition of COVID-19 patients, the importance of the Command Centre at Humber River Health has increased significantly. It is more important than ever to supervise the patient flow of the hospital. It is crucial not only to monitor the condition of COVID-19 patients but also where they are located at all times. Fortunately, the Command Centre at Humber River Health has created an analytical tile to exclusively monitor COVID-19 patients. Below is the Infectious Disease: COVID-19 tile with sample data that displays what trained staff in the Command Centre see.

Let’s break it down:

Patient Load: The upper left portion of the tile details how many patients have been tested in total, followed by the number of patients who have been tested negative and positive. The tile indicates where COVID-19 patients are located, regardless if they have tested positive, negative or in the process of being tested. For the patients that have been tested positive for the virus, their exact room number is listed on the right. All of this data is inputted through patient monitors by the front-line staff on the floor and into the electronic medical record (EMR). The data is subsequently displayed through room sign monitors for fellow front-line staff and families.

Critical Care Beds: The upper right portion of the tile gives you a summary of the beds in the hospital designated for COVID-19 patients. It provides staff with a detailed look at how many beds are available and where they are located.

Daily Patient Count: This portion of the tile gives staff a day-by-day data summary collected from the electronic medical record (EMR) of the number of COVID-19 patients that have tested positive and the number of tests ordered. This helps Command Centre personnel identify any trends regarding COVID-19 patients so that they are better prepared for future cases.

EVS For Critical Care: EVS or the Environmental Services department are at the frontline of infection prevention. Therefore, the purpose of the last section of the tile is critical. In the sample data above, the tile indicates that there is an area to be tended to in room 619A. This information is alerted to the Command Centre staff who can immediately communicate with EVS personnel via Ascom phones so the next patient has access to that bed as soon as possible.

The COVID Tile is the most frequently assessed tile outside the Command Centre and is actively used by many members of the health care team. With the addition of the COVID-19 tile, Command Centre staff are able to monitor the status and location of patients that have tested positive or in the process of being tested. The tile provides an in-depth view of how to manage bed capacity and future testing based on patient data collected in real-time. With these elements, the hospital is prepared in the unfortunate chance there is a large influx of patients as a result of a spike in cases.